A B.C. wildlife photographer looking for birds off the shores of Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 Stanley Park has instead captured an unforgettable image of a different animal in flight 91裸聊视频 an orca leaping from Burrard Inlet.
Frank Lin says he was leading a group of volunteers conducting a water bird survey for the Stanley Park Ecology Society last week when a team member spotted a whale off Brockton Point.
Lin and the others rushed to the waterfront and photographed a pod of five orcas breaching the surface repeatedly.
Lin, 28, has had an Instagram account dedicated to wildlife images since 2016 but he says he91裸聊视频檚 never seen orcas breaching in Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 urban waters before.
Andrew Trites, director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit of the University of British Columbia91裸聊视频檚 Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, says the whales seen by Lin were transient orcas and he believes their appearance near Vancouver will become more frequent.
Trites says the last few decades have seen a rise in the population of harbour seals, many of which gather in waters near Stanley Park.
He says harbour seals are one of the transient orcas91裸聊视频 prime food sources and pods are increasingly drawn to the seals in Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 waters.
Trites says boaters need to 91裸聊视频渒eep their eyes open91裸聊视频 to avoid a catastrophic collision as orcas appear more frequently in crowded waterways.
Lin says his team was 91裸聊视频渟tunned91裸聊视频 by the Feb. 10 sighting, and he told them they were 91裸聊视频減rivileged to see this opportunity.91裸聊视频